, 1887-01-22
THE HABITS OF ELK.
wl,., a Western Hunter Has Observed.
Cow EIs and CalL

Nliist a Western Hunter Has Observed
Cow Elk and Calf
The habits Of elk are similar to those OF
lecr, but they are much larger animals.
Cows that are in good condition dress
aaaut $50 pounds, and fat bulls dress
alint $50 pounds. Lave heard OF bulls
thut dressed 900 pound. hut | never saw
"a lar = an elk. and | iiryc seen hunhrcda
81 them. In September the calycs dress
mom 30 TO 100 pounds. Their meal is ten
der. but ta.telcss and veal-likc. \ fat 9
year-old elk heifer Is probably the best
meat on earth, nj least | think so. The
COWS are GOOD eating. but inferior 10 black
triirl deer. The bulls are rather tough nj
all times, and their meat is unworth! II
being cooked during the rutting season,
Shortly after the rutting season the
neck of the fun antlered bulls begin TO
swell and to grow hard Then It requires
an exceedingly hard shooting rifle to drive
a bail through their nccks. | saw, while
ON this hunt, four bulls shot low down On
the neck, and in no instance did the ball
pass through. and in no case did It strike
the neck bone. In all instances 1t lodged
under the skin on the opposite side from
thv h.uatcr. We used 400 Winchc,icrS,
the Latter ngurcs expressing the number
OF grains Of powder burned behind the
p2l iulH lllt ~ iliON u iihli AhA'Ai-A
an elk Or through IA bear from side to
side, but ii viii not carry through an ell ;
neck.
Bull elk drop their antlers in january
generally. but this, ! suppose. depends on
the latitude IN which they live \ ball Is
full antlrrcd When he is 3 years old then
there ARE six prong N each antler, some
times the nntlcrs sport, y as corn does.
and the horns take queer shapcs. This Il
a very serious disaster to the elk, a. he
cannot fight effectively with ''sported'
n%ntlcrs, and he Is driven out Of the band
| have "A set Of n%ntlcrs, 'sports, which
have thirteen prongs on each horn TIN
bull that wore these heavy, useless ant
lcrs spent the season In seclusion He
could not fight.
One Of the most remarkable Spectncles
IA the pine clad highlands Is 10 see n full
nntlcred bun elk trot ut speed through II
forest where the trees stand 30 thickly
TINT n horse has to slowly pick its way.
! have frequently seen an elk bull. whose
spread Of untlcrs was AT least four feet,
dash al full speed through a belt Of Tim
her where / could not follow on horse
bnck, because the trees were too close 10
gether, ind hc did not strike IA tree will
his antlcrs.
When a cow elk is killed her calf vii
run oil to hide in the woods. But II VIII
frequently return To the place where It's
mother ufell, and It often pays for It's
hungry scnrch with its life | shot II
fi COW one morning, and saw Two calves
not far from her. When tie ride
cracked the calves disappeared That
night | mentioned the fact of the calves
running OF To my comrade. He said
III You will 20 there to morrow morn
Ing YOU will probably find both OF the
cglNc- shopping around In the woods
near the dead COW. They will be hungry
10y that time, and they Will return T."
their lead mother to get a drink Of
milk The two calves will just make ont
our wagon load of meat. You hid bet
Ter 20 and Kill them
| went back the next morning. The two
beautiful, graceful calves stood by their
lead mother trying 20 make TIER rise
Evidently they were hungry and impa-
tent for their breakfast. They would
push her with their black noses or strike
her sharply with their ~iorcfeet. II WIS n
pitiful sight. and | felt Ike a murderer,
and did not have the heart 10 kill the
cnlves. | drove them away, and which my
comraic came up with the pack animals |
tpld HIM my riic did not 20 oil, which
was true. For four weeks | walked daily
In the forest. To-day hunting deer, to-
morrow shooting grouse, the next day
shooting elk. ! stukied the habits OF the
f9me animals under the intelligent super
vision uf my comradc, who had lived
among them for years, and whose living,
in u great measure, depended On his being
able TO kill game at the proper season.
We shot many animals. The hunt was
almost II slaughter. But we lost no meat
mann UNA tta.1 IN latt l..uru ,.apn tbr,prt
away Every pound hat VI did not eat
was carefully saved and sold. The meat
was packed on horses backs for from five
to ten miles through dense green timber,
over burned lands and across fallen tim
Der. From there it was hauled To Lara
mic, Fort Collins and Rawlings for sale,
and the money obtained for it was ex-
pended for provisions. The trails on
which we entered or left the elk range
were purposely blind trails, and unknown
to other persons. Cor New York Sun